Firewood spat may have come before Ohio mom killed

A ten-year old boy sits with leg irons in a courtroom during his court appearance Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, in Millersburg, Ohio. The boy has been charged as a juvenile with murder in the fatal shooting of his mother after authorities said he told a neighbor about the killing. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
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A ten-year old boy sits with leg irons in a courtroom during his court appearance Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, in Millersburg, Ohio. The boy has been charged as a juvenile with murder in the fatal shooting of his mother after authorities said he told a neighbor about the killing. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
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This undated photo provided by the Holmes County Sheriff's Department shows Deborah McVay, 46, of Big Prairie, Ohio. McVay was found dead of a single gunshot wound to the head Sunday night, Jan. 2, 2011. Her 10-year-old son on Monday was charged as a juvenile with murder after authorities said he told a neighbor of the killing. (AP Photo/Holmes County Sheriff's Department)— AP

This undated photo provided by the Holmes County Sheriff's Department shows Deborah McVay, 46, of Big Prairie, Ohio. McVay was found dead of a single gunshot wound to the head Sunday night, Jan. 2, 2011. Her 10-year-old son on Monday was charged as a juvenile with murder after authorities said he told a neighbor of the killing. (AP Photo/Holmes County Sheriff's Department)
/ AP

HOLMESVILLE, Ohio 
A 10-year-old boy suspected in his mother's shooting death may have argued with her beforehand about whether to carry firewood into the home, a sheriff's deputy said Tuesday.

The boy has been charged with murder as a juvenile and entered the equivalent of a not guilty plea in court. His mother, 46-year-old Deborah McVay, was found dead of a single gunshot wound to the head Sunday night in Big Prairie, located about midway between Cleveland and Columbus.

The preliminary investigation indicates an argument may have precipitated the shooting, Holmes County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Nathan Fritz.

"There may have been an argument over whether he should bring firewood into the house," Fritz said, "and possibly escalated from there."

Four weapons were found in the boy's bedroom. On his bed were the .22 caliber rifle believed to be the weapon that killed his mother and a 12-gauge shotgun. On a gun rack mounted to the wall hung two more .22 caliber rifles, Fritz said. Paramedics found McVay lying facedown on her living room floor, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, said Holmes County Sheriff Tim Zimmerly.

Authorities went to the house, in rolling farmland, after a neighbor called a sheriff's dispatcher to say McVay's son had come to her home and said he had just shot his mother.

"I'm her neighbor. I'm over here. She's bleeding from her head," the neighbor tells a dispatcher. When the dispatcher asks "Is she breathing?" the neighbor answers, "no, she's bleeding."

"The neighbors came over and got me and said the mom got shot in the head," the neighbor says.

Family members have told authorities that the guns were a Christmas present from the boy's now-deceased grandfather, though exactly when they came into his possession are unclear. The weapons were not new, but authorities do not know whether the boy had used them before, Fritz said.

"It's not unusual for boys of that age to hunt and shoot," Fritz said. "I think it's unusual that those weapons were permitted to be in the boy's bedroom."

The boy lived with his mother and 15-year-old sister - who was present at the time of the shooting - in the small one-story dwelling, Fritz said. The home was a former garage that had been converted into a living space with three bedrooms, he said. An empty shell casing belonging to a .22 caliber rifle was found in the living area after the shooting.

Several relatives live nearby, including Deborah McVay's mother, who resides in a mobile home on the same street, Fritz said.

The investigation has unearthed previous disciplinary problems in the 10-year-old's young life, but no serious violence. In December 2006, Deborah McVay called the sheriff's office to complain about a school bus driver who disciplined the boy, Fritz said.

"He was being disruptive and the bus driver had to stop the bus," Fritz said, "and grabbed him by the jacket and sat him down." No charges were filed by the family against the driver.